Tax reform fairy tale

Jason Rapert does a puff job on the Republican tax plan. Contrary to his assertions, the current Senate plan will in the long run raise taxes on people earning $10,000 to $75,000, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. The wealthy and businesses will get big reductions—by some estimates, 80 percent will go to the top 1 percent. All this will be financed by ballooning the deficit. We’ll be borrowing billions from China to give to American billionaires.

Rapert claims that American businesses are handicapped by higher tax rates than other countries. But our effective corporate tax rate—the rate that corporations actually pay—is already on a par with other countries. Republicans claim that business tax reductions will benefit everyone. But that’s just wishful thinking. Our economy has grown greatly during the past few decades, but wages are stagnant. Only the wealthy have benefited from the growth. There’s no reason to think anything different will happen this time.

Space does not permit me to consider all the particular bad effects of the Republican proposal. It includes a frontal attack on higher education. If you or your kids hope to go to college, the Republicans want to make it harder. If you have a chronic illness and deduct your medical expenses, the Republicans will make you pay more. And if you pay Arkansas income tax, the Republicans want to tax you on top of your tax.

Don’t be taken in by Rapert’s fairy tale. JACOB ADLER Fayetteville